Defender Radio: The Podcast For Wildlife Advocates And Animal Lovers

We’re continuing our back to school series – focusing this week on the two-legged young who are eager to learn. This week we’re happy to bring you two top humane educators. First up is Zoe Weil, co-founder and president of The Institute for Humane Education, who will share her thoughts on the importance of humane education in homes and classrooms, as well as the best way to get teachers on board with the rapidly growing demand for such lessons. Following Zoe is Paula Neuman, Manager of Humane Education for the BC SPCA, who will talk about the success the west coast organization has had in teaching children – some of whom are today staff at the BC SPCA – what it means to be compassionate. We know that many parents in British Columbia are struggling with keeping their children busy – and entertained – during a prolonged labour dispute between teachers and the province. We’re happy to inform you that our own lesson plans – with content ranging from K to 12 – is available to freely download at FurBEarerDefend

Education is part of the foundation of a solid democracy, and in Canada we take that responsibility quite seriously. We have some of the best elementary, secondary and post-secondary schools in the world – and millions of young Canadians are back to the books this week. But every day we have important lessons to learn outside the classroom, as well. This week we’re taking a look at two different – and equally important – types of education. We’ll be joined by Tyler Jamieson, an Ottawa-area advocate who last year ran a series of successful demonstrations promoting the fur-free message at college and university campuses. Then we’ll hear from Coyote Watch Canada’s Lesley Sampson who will tell us how coyotes are going back to school, too.  

It’s been a long summer for those of us in the fight against the fur lobby – particularly after the events at a Quebec fur farm. The Montreal SPCA is in a battle of political will and legislative authority with the province’s Ministry of Forests, Fauna and Parks who have not acted on allegations of neglect and cruelty. To bring us up to date on the investigation of the Quebec fur farm, the report and concerns of wildlife experts and veterinarians, and the possibilioty of legal action against the provincial government is Montreal SPCA spokesperson Sophie Gaillard. We also have a special feature on this week's episode: behind the fur industry spin, breaking down a media interview from the Fur Council of Canada.

As animal advocates, we often feel frustrated, despondent and outright angry at the world around us – and that’s a healthy, normal response. But sometimes those feelings can overwhelm us and influence our ability to help wild life and be happy, healthy individuals. You may know Dr. Heidi Perryman as the beaver believer from Martinez, California, or the defender who hosts the MartinezBeavers.org Worth a Dam website and podcast series. But between her evenings of working with municipalities, landowners and the general public on beaver protection, she’s a successful clinical psychologist. Dr. Perryman joined Defender Radio for a unique conversation on these emotions, what they mean to us and how we can manage them in our day-to-day lives as advocates.

In recent weeks you’ve seen us on the news, read about us in newspapers and heard us on the radio talking about beavers and trapping in Calgary. Now we’re bringing the story back to the woman who started it. In mid-July, Linda Lelonde and her husband were walking in a park when they came across a beaver, later discovered to be caught in an allegedly humane Conibear trap. The trauma of the event shook Linda – and the entire animal-loving community of Calgary. With her compassion and perseverance, the issue became a major talking point in the city. APFA got involved, offering our assistance in building and installing flow devices so that beaver trapping in the city could end. We finally caught up with Linda last week and are now bringing you her own account of the incident, what has happened since that fateful day and where she hopes to see the City of Calgary’s beaver management program end.

In late January 2014, Paula Tough had been out with a friend and their dogs near Algonquin Park when they came across what appeared to be a wolf caught in a snare. The wire had cut into the animals’ leg deeply, and the nearby damage and scat showed he had been caught for at least three or four days. Paula took extraordinary action – with the help of a friend, she was able to cut the snare, load the animal into a crate and drive it straight down to Aspen Valley Wildlife Centre. The initial outlook was not good for the animal, who was eventually discovered to be a young Algonquin coywolf. His leg had to be amputated due to the severity of the injury. But with the hard work of volunteers and staff at Aspen Valley, as well as a whole lot of guts on the part of the coywolf, he was successfully released in the first week of August. Julie Woodyer of Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary joined Defender Radio to discuss the rehabilitation of the coywolf, his release, and what it means for the future of injured wildlife.

Once upon a time, Rob Laidlaw was a young man who wanted to protect animals. Today, Rob has become an animal advocacy powerhouse as the head of Zoocheck Canada, frequent speaker, and most recently, author of a series of best-selling and award-winning children’s books. Titles such as No Shelter Here and Saving Lives and Changing Hearts have won multiple awards, been translated into numerous languages and hit the shelves of schools and libraries from coast to coast. It has also catapulted Rob’s career in a direction he never expected. To celebrate the release of his latest book, 5 Elephants, Rob joined Defender Radio to talk about the path that led him to becoming a best-selling children’s book author, learning how to be an advocate and what young people – as well as their parents – can be doing to better the lives of animals around the world.

As summer is coming to its peak, so are the thousands of wild babies from coast to coast. While APFA works hard to protect them through education, advocacy, by-laws and policy, much effort is still needed on the front lines. And those who stand in the trenches are wildlife rehabilitators. In Burnaby, BC, the Wildlife Rescue Association of British Columbia takes in several thousand injured, orphaned or sick wild animals every year. Their team of rehabilitators work tirelessly to provide care, comfort and a second chance for animals who have been wrongly injured or taken from their homes. This week, we’re hearing from two staffers of the WRA – Karen Becker, a wildlife rehabilitator, as well as Yolanda Brooks, Communications Manager. The two sides – front office and back care rooms – will be explored in these interviews.

On the central coast of British Columbia sits the traditional lands of the Heiltsuk First Nations people. In their language, Heiltsuk means to speak and act correctly, and this concept is an important part of their culture. The Qqs (pronounced Kuks, meaning eyes) Projects society was formed to support Heiltsuk youth, culture and environment and ensure a vibrant, strong future for the people. As part of this, the Qqs Projects Society joined with major academics from across North America to launch a study of the grizzly bears that call the Koeye River home, or at least a popular feeding ground in the right season. Protecting these bears and their habitat is of vital importance to the Heiltsuk First Nations. We were recently joined by William Housty, a Director of the Qqs Project Society who is noted as having an unparalled knowledge of Heiltsuk stories, songs and ceremonies – as well as a degree in environmental sciences. To learn more about William Housty, the Qqs Project Society or the Heiltsuk First Nati

We in Canada may look upon Montana as the last vestige of the wild west – and in many ways, it is. Ranchers, landowner’s rights and the old American west live on in the Northern state. But not everyone wants to hold onto every bit of that tradition. Montana is filled with trappers and their cruel devices. Standing against them is Footloose Montana, a registered charity that is looking to end the reign of terror trappers leave in their wake. From hosting trap-release seminars to beginning legal action, Footloose Montana is doing what they can to combat trapping. Joining us this week is the new executive director of Footloose Montana, Christopher Justice, who will share the group’s vision of a trap-free Montana.

Perhaps the most mystic – and most feared – wildlife in Canada, wolves are making a comeback. Throughout the western United States, wolf populations are beginning to re-emerge after a courageous plan to reintroduce them to Yellowstone National Park in the 1990s. But along with their reintroduction has come ongoing fear, paranoia from ranchers and the happy trigger fingers of hunters and trappers. Add that to the ongoing persecution of wolves in Canada and the species is by no means free of their one-time endangered status. But this has also created a unique and historic opportunity to study wolves and how they affect ecosystems. Two recent studies have identified and are extrapolating what is becoming known as The Wolf Effect. We’ll hear from two leading scientists who have examined this phenomenon; first is Dr. Thomas Newsome, who has worked with a team that is exploring how wolf populations affect the populations of foxes and coyotes. Then we’ll be joined by Dr. Mark Elbroch, who is part of one of the lon

It's our Canada Day special! To celebrate the 147th birthday of our great nation, we’re bringing you the best of beavers from Defender Radio’s first season. You’ll hear from some world-renowned experts, film makers and even some of APFA’s own staffers in this look back, along with a couple of new clips from our friends who love beavers, too.

Intelligence means different things to different people. To an anthrozoologist or biologist, it can be the measurement of intellect or sentience in a living being. To someone in law enforcement, it’s the product of analyzed data. And both versions are what we’re discussing on this week’s episode. Andrea Crosta, a security expert who has worked with the likes of Homeland Security, has taken his experience and changed his focus to the illegal wildlife trade. Head of the Elephant Action League, Crosta recently opened the floodgates on WildLeaks – a crime fighting tool to protect the people and animals involved in the illegal trade worldwide. Our good friend and internationally-renowned animal expert Dr. Marc Bekoff says that all animals live emotional lives – even crayfish. A recent study shows that crayfish, a low-order invertebrate, has the same chemical reaction to stimuli and serotonin as humans. The implications of this are profound – and Marc will share his thoughts.

Every day, life happens around us: from viruses multiplying to humans launching rockets into space - the need for growth forces change. Yet despite these clearly understood needs, we often have difficulty understanding the millions of lives surrounding our own. The quest to understand what animals think and feel is one that may never be complete; but there are ways for us to understand what motivates them and why it is important to work to ensure their protection. On the west coast, thousands of people are working to protect grizzly bears – apex predators essential to the survival of ecosystems. Included in those ranks are professional bear guides from the Coastal First Nations who want hunters to take a shot – but with cameras instead of guns. We’ll be joined by expert bear guide Douglas Neasloss who explains what the Great Bear Initiative means and how it may save the bears of the west coast. Out east, tragedy struck Moncton as three RCMP officers were killed and others injured when a madman opened fire u

We’re celebrating beavers this week and asking you to become a beaver believer. We’re happy to bring you two great beaver stories. First up is Simon Jones of the Scottish Wildlife Trust. Simon joined us from across the pond to talk about the reintroduction of Eurasian beavers to an area of Scotland after a 300-year absence. We’ll also be talking with Sarah Koenigsberg, who is producing and crowd-sourcing a film about beavers and their role in ecosystems and climate change. The film is aptly titled, Beaver Believers. An update on our 2014 Ontario Beaver Tour is also to be heard on this episode.  

We’re all about Marcy this week. Marcy Potter is our newest team member at APFA, our Office and Database Administrator. She is an animal advocate, trained rehabilitator and an absolute machine at organizing our office, our databases and, frankly, all of us. Marcy joined Defender Radio recently to talk about her past, her future and what people need to know about finding wildlife near their homes.

This week we’re celebrating victories across North America. We’ll hear from Sheryl Fink of the International Fund for Animal Welfare who will explain why the World Trade Organization upheld a European Union ban on the importation of Canadian seal products – and what that means for Canada and our seals. Then we’ll be talking with Tara Zuardo of the Animal Welfare Institute in Washington, D.C., who will share her experiences protecting North Carolina’s red wolves from coyote hunters. We're also thanking sponsors from two recent events - one in Calgary (Celebration of Wildlife:photographers Jason Bantle, John Marriott and Kerri Martin, along with Alberta Skydivers and White Lotus Jewellery) and one in Vancouver (Discover Dogs presents a Fur-Bearer Mingler: artists Adelle Airey, Vicki Lynn Rae, Tracey Tomtene, Jesse Toso and Rod Preston as well as thank Discover Dogs, the Vancouver Canadians, Just Beef and Nothing But, The Honest Kitchen and Zimt Artisan Chocolates).  

For nearly 80 years, The Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals has tried to find ways to stop the use of fur and end trapping. While many of our traditional methods – letter-writing, campaigning, advertising and others – have worked well in many areas, our co-existence program has yielded the greatest results. The concept of co-existence stems from understanding the wildlife in an ecosystem and finding steps that can help prevent conflict. This week, we’re hearing from two experts. First up is Adrian Nelson, my colleague at APFA who is also our urban wildlife conflict manager. For the last several years, Adrian has headed up our Living With Wildlife beavers campaign to great success – and he’ll be sharing how the program works and what you can do to get involved. Following Adrian will be Sara Dubois, Chief Scientific Officer at the BC SPCA who will discuss a recent study out of Africa illustrating that not only is co-existence better for the environment and animals, but better for the econom

The Ontario spring bear hunt has begun. After a long battle, advocates have been unable to reverse the government’s vote-grabbing plan to open up the hunt, which was closed more than a decade ago. The reason the hunt was ended was simple:  bear cubs were being orphaned by the hundreds. But in a desperate bid to please northern voters, Minister of Natural Resources David Orazietti ignored his own department’s scientific reports and launched a pilot project of the hunt, which began on May 1. In past episodes, we’ve learned why the original hunt was cancelled and what the possible repercussions could be if it was reinstated. Now we’re learning what is being done to prepare for those repercussions. We’ll be hearing from Mike McIntosh of Bear With Us Sanctuary, where many bear cubs – if found in time – will go to be rehabilitated, raised and eventually released into the wild. We’ll then talk with Julie Woodyer from Zoocheck Canada, who is part of an initiative to encourage residents of Northern Ontario to report

One year ago a small budget documentary was premiered at the HotDocs film festival in Toronto. The film followed the journey of a photographer – Jo-Anne McArthur – as she explored the exploitation of animals in modern society. In the year that passed, The Ghosts in Our Machine has become a staple in the work of advocates everywhere. With harrowing – yet not gruesome - scenes inside factory farms and fur farms, Ghosts is a powerful yet palatable look into a world many try to ignore.  To celebrate this one year landmark and the release of The Ghosts on DVD and the iTunes Store, Jo-Anne McArthur joined Defender Radio for a candid conversation.